Cannabinoids And Their Potential As Anti-inflammatory Agents

Cannabinoids are chemical compounds naturally occurring in the cannabis plant (cannabis sativa). Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of these chemicals and studies have shown it fairs well in reducing inflammation when induced on animal cells. People have smoked the marijuana plant for thousands of years and it has said have an anti-inflammatory role in the body. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is another one of these chemicals and it is said it has psychoactive effects. Major cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) are found in the endocannabinoid system and allow exogenous and endogenous cannabinoids to thrive in the body.

This paper views the synthetic cannabinoid, palmitoylethanolamide, can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, nausea and vomiting, heart disease and chronic inflammation.

Cannabinoids Have Therapeutic Potential

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-a) cannabinoid that gives off anti-inflammatory, therapeutic and neuroprotective abilities. PEA is synthesized from phospholipids by way of the sequential abilities of N-acyltransferase and N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine-gathering phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD), and its actions are terminated by its hydrolysis by two enzymes, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and N-acylethanolamine-hydrolysing acid amidase (NAAA).

This study has evaluated the effect of PEA dosing in inflammatory and neurodegenerative situations and the contrasting job of FAAH and NAAA in regulating PEA rates. Current research with NAAA inducers makes this enzyme able to better PEA levels in inflammatory methods and discovered it as an intriguing site for drug exploration studies. Thus, PEA hydrolysis inducers could allow a possible analgesic alternative in chronic inflammatory and brain disorders.

Cannabinoids Have Anti-inflammatory Properties

This study has shown the possibility of applying PEA as a good endogenous cannabinoid in the situation of inflammation. To make use of its abilities, several study paths should be explored more in depth. Among these, a better knowledge of how NAAA and FAAH have the same job of mediating PEA tissue levels is required both in regulating and in disease conditions. An associated issue will be to see how NAEs rates are impacted by NAAA inducing. FAAH inducing concludes with a strong increase in NAE levels (AEA, PEA, OEA, N-stearoylethanolamine, etc).

This means that cannabinoids could have an anti-inflammatory effect in humans. By delving further into these pathways, scientists could find better and more efficient selective cannabinoids to treat inflammation. Overall, it is an exciting time for scientists working in the cannabinoid area as it could be the answer in treating a wide range of human disorders such as multiple sclerosis, AIDS and Arthritis.

Registered with the British Psychological Society, breaking the taboo on mental health issues is one of the driving forces in Jonathan's life. His background in biomedicine gives him additional understanding of the factors that work together to influence the human condition.